Social networking service collaboration

ABSTRACT

A first device recognizes a user and acquires sensing data related to the user. A collaboration apparatus communicably connected with the first device, and is configured to execute transmission of a content based on the sensing data, as speech by a first virtual character registered as a member of a group in a Social Networking Service (SNS) provided by a SNS system, to the SNS system. The first virtual character represents the first device. A second device is communicably connected with the collaboration apparatus. The collaboration apparatus is configured to hold user management data in which identification information of the user of the first device is associated with the group, and register, when the second device recognizes the user, a second virtual character representing the second device with the group associated with the identification information of the user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/300,380 filed on Sep. 29, 2016, which is aNational Stage Entry of international application PCT/JP2015/001925,filed Apr. 6, 2015, which claims the benefit of priority from JapanesePatent Application 2014-078683 filed on Apr. 7, 2014, the disclosures ofall of which are incorporated in their entirety by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a collaboration system which providescollaboration between an SNS system and a device, a collaborationapparatus, a collaboration method, a recording medium which stores acollaboration program, and the like.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, as SNS (Social Networking Service) has been used forcommunication with close family members or friends, communities havebeen built using SNS. In common SNS, a user uses a browser or anapplication executed on a terminal such as a PC (Personal Computer) or asmart phone to browse or upload contents such as messages, pictures andmoving pictures in an SNS community.

With various proposals made for allowing easy transmission and receptionof contents in an SNS community, software implementation has beenexecuted which is operative on a terminal such as a PC or a smart phoneto use SNS. For example, such a technique is used as enables a user totransmit and receive a message with ease using text input by voice inputand voice reading of displayed text in an application on the terminal.For example, Better People (see Non-Patent Literature 1) is used as abulletin-board-like SNS allowing a contribution of a status (i.e. statuscontribution) indicative of a state of a user himself or herself andcontribution to the status contribution (i.e. comment contribution).

On the other hand, communication robots are being widespread, which arecapable of communicating with people through conversation (see e.g.Non-Patent Literature 2). Through conversation with a person, acommunication robot is capable of sensing a large amount of informationsuch as contents of the conversation, a position and a movement of theperson, a shape and an expression of a face, a body temperature of theperson and a surrounding temperature. With the large amount ofinformation, the communication robot is allowed to continue theconversation with the person.

CITATION LIST Non-Patent Literature

-   [NPL 1] NEC Corporation, “Better People” [online], [searched Mar.    24, 2014], the Internet <URL: http://n-pj.jp/btp/>-   [NPL 2] NEC Corporation, “Cloud Collaborative Robot Platform”,    [online], [searched Apr. 3, 2014], the Internet <URL:    http://jpn.nec.com/robot/>

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

Common SNS is, however, premised on that a user uses a terminal such asa PC or a smart phone. Aged persons, infants and others who aredifficult to use these terminals are not allowed to join in an SNScommunity. Even when a user can use these terminals, he/she could nottransmit and receive the contents in an SNS community with ease. Thereason is that complicated procedure is required for transmission andreception of contents in an SNS community, including an access to an SNScommunity, browsing of contents, text input and image or video contentsuploading work.

One of objects of the present invention is to provide a collaborationsystem, a collaboration apparatus and a collaboration method which allowa user to use SNS with ease, a recording medium which stores acollaboration program, and the like.

Solution to Problem

A collaboration system according to one aspect of the present inventionincludes a device which recognizes a user to execute at least one ofacquisition of sensing data related to the user and action based on thecontents contributed to SNS by another user, and a collaborationapparatus which executes at least one of processing of transmittingcontributed contents based on the sensing data to an SNS system whichprovides SNS and processing of updating action of the device based oncontents contributed by another user and transmitting the updated actionto the device.

A collaboration apparatus according to one aspect of the presentinvention, which is a collaboration apparatus connected to a devicewhich recognizes a user to execute at least one of acquisition ofsensing data related to the user and action based on the contentscontributed to SNS by another user, executes at least one of processingof transmitting contributed contents based on the sensing data to an SNSsystem which provides the SNS and processing of updating action of thedevice based on contents contributed by another user and transmittingthe updated action to the device.

A collaboration method according to one aspect of the present inventionincludes recognizing a user to execute at least one of acquisition ofsensing data related to the user and action based on the contentscontributed to SNS by another user, and executing at least one ofprocessing of transmitting contributed contents based on the sensingdata to an SNS system which provides the SNS and processing of updatingaction based on contents contributed by another user.

A recording medium according to one aspect of the present inventionstores a collaboration program, which program is installed in a computerconnected to a device that recognizes a user to execute at least one ofacquisition of sensing data related to the user and action based on thecontents contributed to SNS by another user and which program causes thecomputer to execute at least one of processing of transmittingcontributed contents based on the sensing data to an SNS system whichprovides the SNS and processing of updating action of the device basedon contents contributed by another user and transmitting the updatedaction to the device. An object of the present invention is attainedalso by the collaboration program stored in the above-describedrecording medium.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

According to the present invention, a user is allowed to use SNS withease.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of an exemplaryembodiment of a collaboration system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating operation of the exemplary embodimentof the collaboration system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of updating speechcontents of a communication robot.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of determining speechcontents and motion contents of the communication robot.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of determining contentscontributed by a virtual robot character in an SNS group.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of identifying an SNScontribution destination by face authentication.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of identifying acontribution destination when a plurality of communication robots isprovided.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of a main part of thecollaboration system according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating one example of a hardwarestructure of a computer by which an SNS-robot collaboration apparatus100 according to the present invention can be achieved.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In the following, an exemplary embodiment of a collaboration systemaccording to the present invention will be described with reference tothe drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a structure of thecollaboration system according to the present exemplary embodiment. Thecollaboration system illustrated in FIG. 1 is a system in which a robotplatform and a system realizing SNS are collaborated.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the collaboration system of the presentexemplary embodiment includes an SNS-robot collaboration apparatus 100,a robot PF (Platform) 200 and an SNS system 300. The SNS-robotcollaboration apparatus 100 corresponds, for example, to a collaborationapparatus of the present invention. The robot PF 200 corresponds, forexample, to a device of the present invention. The SNS-robotcollaboration apparatus 100 is an apparatus connected between the robotPF 200 and the SNS system 300 so as to communicate therewith. TheSNS-robot collaboration apparatus 100 is, for example, a server.

The robot PF 200 includes a robot PF cloud 201 and a robot PF device202. The robot PF cloud 201 and the robot PF device 202 are connectedthrough a communication network.

The SNS system 300 includes an SNS server 301 and a terminal apparatus302. The SNS system 300 provides SNS. The SNS server 301 and theterminal apparatus 302 are connected through the communication network.The terminal apparatus 302 is a terminal apparatus which is used in acommon SNS system. The terminal apparatus 302 is, for example, a PC, atablet terminal, a smart phone, a cellular phone or the like which isconnected to the SNS server 301 through the communication network. Inthe present exemplary embodiment, the plurality of terminal apparatuses302 is assumed to be connected to the SNS server 301.

The SNS-robot collaboration apparatus 100 includes an SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001, a robot PF-IF (Interface) unit 1002 andan SNS-IF unit 1003. The SNS-robot collaboration apparatus 100 isconnected to the robot PF cloud 201 and the SNS server 301 on a cloudvia the communication network. The SNS-robot collaboration apparatus 100may be included in the robot PF cloud 201 or the SNS system 300. TheSNS-robot collaboration apparatus 100 conducts communication with therobot PF cloud 201 via the communication network through the robot PF-IFunit 1002. The SNS-robot collaboration apparatus 100 conductscommunication with the SNS server 301 via the communication networkthrough the SNS-IF unit 1003.

Each element in the SNS-robot collaboration apparatus 100 is achievedby, for example, hardware designed to execute specific arithmeticprocessing and the like, or an information processing device such as aCPU (Central Processing Unit) operable according to a program. Theprogram is stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.

The robot PF cloud 201 is an information processing device such as aserver which is used for cloud service. The robot PF cloud 201 includesa robot PF cloud control unit 2011. The robot PF cloud control unit 2011controls the entire robot PF 200 (both the robot PF cloud 201 and therobot PF device 202). The robot PF cloud control unit 2011 is capableof, for example, managing the robot PF device 202. The robot PF cloudcontrol unit 2011 also has such a function as an application programminginterface which is an interface for controlling and managing a robotfrom other service application and the like.

The robot PF device 202 is, for example, a communication robot capableof communicating with a user. In the following description, thecommunication robot is also referred to as a robot. The robot PF device202 includes a robot PF device control unit 2021, a person sensing unit2022, a voice recognition unit 2023, a voice synthesis speech unit 2024and a motion reproduction unit 2025. The robot PF device 202 acquiressensing data related to a user by using the person sensing unit 2022,the voice recognition unit 2023 and the like. In the followingdescription, a user of the communication robot is also referred to as arobot user.

The person sensing unit 2022 senses a person. Specifically, the personsensing unit 2022 acquires sensing data related to a user of thecommunication robot, for example, by a sensor. The voice recognitionunit 2023 detects voice, for example, by a sensor such as a microphoneand recognizes the detected voice. The voice synthesis speech unit 2024synthesizes voice based on speech contents indicative of contents of thespeech and reproduces the synthesized voice. The motion reproductionunit 2025 operates the robot according to the motion contents indicativeof movement of the robot (i.e. reproduces motion contents).

Although the present exemplary embodiment is premised on the cloudcollaborative robot PF 200 having the robot PF cloud 201 and the robotPF device 202, it is not limited to such a structure. The robot PFdevice 202 may be, for example, a robot that can be controlled andmanaged from another application and the like. In addition, the robot PFcloud 201 may execute software processing such as person sensing, voicerecognition and voice synthesis executed in the person sensing unit2022, the voice recognition unit 2023 and the voice synthesis speechunit 2024. In other words, the robot PF cloud 201 may operate as theperson sensing unit 2022, the voice recognition unit 2023 and the voicesynthesis speech unit 2024.

Although in the present exemplary embodiment, the communication robot isused as the robot PF device 202, the robot PF device 202 is notnecessarily the communication robot, but may be any device that canrecognize a person. For example, a camera capable of face recognitionand matching or a sensor device capable of biometric authentication maybe used in place of the communication robot.

Sensing a person with the person sensing unit 2022 is realized by suchsensing techniques as detection of a temperature change by an infraredsensor, detection of a distance to an object by an ultrasonic sensor anddetection of a person's face using a photographing apparatus such as acamera. Since common techniques are applied as the sensing technique,detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Each element of the robot PF cloud 201 and the robot PF device 202 isachieved, for example, by hardware designed to execute specificarithmetic processing and the like, or an information processing devicesuch as a CPU operable according to a program. The program is stored ina non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.

The SNS server 301 is a server which executes service operation and datamanagement of the SNS system 300 on the cloud and includes an SNS servercontrol unit 3011. An application installed in such a terminal as a PCor a smart phone is allowed to access data of the SNS system 300 byusing the application programming interface provided by the SNS servercontrol unit 3011.

In the description of each exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, an application program is referred to as “application” asdescribed above in some cases. In addition, operation of the informationprocessing device such as a CPU operable according to the applicationprogram will be described as operation of an application program, i.e.an application as described above in some cases.

The terminal apparatus 302 includes an SNS application 3021. The SNSapplication 3021 is an application installed in a terminal such as a PCor a smart phone. The SNS application 3021 is an application such as aWeb browser that can use SNS. The SNS application 3021 may be achievedby a dedicated circuit. The terminal apparatus 302 may be any of variousapparatuses or systems that can use SNS.

As described in the foregoing, the SNS server 301 and the terminalapparatus 302 are achieved, for example, by hardware designed to executespecific arithmetic processing and the like, or an informationprocessing device such as a CPU operable according to a program. Theprogram is stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium.

The SNS application 3021 of the present exemplary embodiment is an SNSapplication which enables users to share their own states or commentsthey want to send by using an UI (User Interface) called a status iconor a stamp. The SNS application 3021 is a bulletin-board-like SNSenabling, for example, contribution of a status indicative of a user'sown state (i.e. status contribution) and contribution to the statuscontribution (i.e. comment contribution). As such SNS, for example,Better People (see Non-Patent Literature 1) is used. Better People hasan icon indicative of a user's state (i.e. status icon), and a stampusable in place of text.

When sharing words and actions of a robot user in SNS, the SNSapplication 3021 discriminates contents that the user wants to sharewith another user relatively intensively (e.g. status contribution) andcontents that the user wants to share relatively weakly (e.g. commentcontribution). The SNS application 3021 displays the contents to beshared relatively intensively and contents to be shared relativelyweakly using different UIs (i.e. ways of showing).

The communication robot joins in a community of the SNS system 300 as avirtual robot character. In the present exemplary embodiment, acommunity of the SNS system 300 and an SNS group are synonyms. In theSNS group, only a particular user who takes part in the group is allowedto contribute and read the contents. For joining in an SNS group, a userneeds registration after being approved by a group manager. In commonSNS, a community of a closed world for communicating with close familymembers and friends is defined as a group in many cases. Therefore, alsoin the present exemplary embodiment, a community of the SNS system 300is referred to as an SNS group or simply a group. In the followingdescription, “contribution to an SNS group” is contribution, forexample, which can be read only by users taking part in the SNS group.“SNS contribution” is contribution to any of SNS groups. The SNScontribution includes, for example, the above-described statuscontribution and comment contribution.

The communication robot contributes contents of conversation with arobot user as a comment or a stamp via a virtual robot character joiningin an SNS group. In other words, the communication robot contributescontents of conversation with the robot user as a comment or a stamp putby the virtual robot character taking part in the SNS group. This allowsanother SNS user to share a condition of the robot user in the SNS. Inaddition, by making a speech of the contents contributed by another SNSuser in the SNS group through voice synthesis or executing motion by thecommunication robot enables the robot user to be informed of a conditionof another SNS user. Motion includes, for example, sound effects, bodymovement of the communication robot, and lighting or blinking of an LED(Light Emitting Diode). Use of motion allows the communication robot tohave more effective communication with the robot user than communicationby speech voice only. In the following description, data indicative ofcontents of a specific speech is referred to as speech contents. Datarepresenting contents of specific motion is referred to as motioncontents. At least one of speech and motion is referred to as “action”in some cases.

Next, operation of the collaboration system of the present exemplaryembodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustratingoperation of the collaboration system as the present exemplaryembodiment. Specifically, FIG. 2 is a flowchart depicting a procedure bywhich the communication robot contributes contents of conversation withthe robot user as a comment or a stamp in an SNS group via a virtualrobot character taking part in an SNS group.

The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 updates contents (i.e.speech contents) of a speech made by the communication robot (Step S11).The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 also notifies the robot PFcloud control unit 2011 of update information about the speech contentsthrough the robot PF-IF unit 1002. The robot PF cloud control unit 2011notifies the robot PF device control unit 2021 of the update informationabout the speech contents notified by the SNS-robot collaborationcontrol unit 1001. Update of the contents of the speech made by therobot is executed by the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 asrequired. Specific update procedure will be described separately.

The person sensing unit 2022 senses a person (Step S12). In other words,the person sensing unit 2022 acquires measurement data (i.e. sensingdata) related to a robot user by a sensor. Specifically, the personsensing unit 2022 senses a presence, a position, movement, an expressionchange of a person, a temperature change, and the like. The personsensing unit 2022 notifies the robot PF device control unit 2021 ofsensing data acquired by the sensing. Person sensing is achieved by suchsensing techniques as detection of a temperature change by an infraredsensor, detection of a distance to an object by an ultrasonic sensor anddetection of a person's face by a camera.

The robot PF device control unit 2021 causes the voice synthesis speechunit 2024 to execute speech processing and the motion reproduction unit2025 to execute motion processing (Step S13). Specifically, the robot PFdevice control unit 2021 determines speech contents and motion contentsof a robot based on sensing data acquired by person sensing. Next, therobot PF device control unit 2021 notifies the speech contents of therobot to the voice synthesis speech unit 2024 and the motion contents ofthe robot to the motion reproduction unit 2025. The voice synthesisspeech unit 2024 makes a speech of the notified speech contents. Inother words, the voice synthesis speech unit 2024 synthesizes voicerepresenting the notified speech contents. The voice synthesis speechunit 2024 generates voice data representing the notified speech contentsand reproduces the generated voice data as voice. The motionreproduction unit 2025 reproduces the notified motion contents. In otherwords, the motion reproduction unit 2025 executes motion expressed bythe notified motion contents.

The robot PF device control unit 2021 selects either one of speechcontents, i.e. the speech contents held in advance and the speechcontents notified from the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 inStep S11. The robot PF device control unit 2021 determines the selectedspeech contents as speech contents of which the robot will make aspeech. The robot PF device control unit 2021 also selects any of motioncontents held in advance as motion contents. The robot PF device controlunit 2021 determines the selected motion contents as motion contents tobe reproduced by the robot. The robot PF device control unit 2021 maydetermine the speech contents and the motion contents of the robotbased, not on person sensing, but on detection of specific sound orspecific voice, detection of gesture movement, or the like. Specificmethod of determining speech contents and motion contents will bedescribed separately.

The voice recognition unit 2023 recognizes speech contents of the robotuser by voice recognition after the speech and the motion made by therobot in Step S13 (Step S14). The voice recognition unit 2023 notifies,as sensing data, voice recognition data which is acquired by voicerecognition and represents speech contents of the robot user to therobot PF device control unit 2021.

The robot PF device control unit 2021 transmits sensing data acquiredfrom the person sensing unit 2022 and the voice recognition unit 2023and device data related to the robot PF device 202 to the robot PF cloudcontrol unit 2011 (Step S15). Specifically, the sensing data includesinfrared measurement data, ultrasonic wave measurement data, camera facedetection data, camera image and video data, voice recognition data andthe like. The device data specifically includes a device state, speechcontents representing contents of a speech made by the robot, motionreproduction contents (i.e. reproduced motion contents) and the like.

The robot PF cloud control unit 2011 notifies the sensing data and thedevice data notified from the robot PF device control unit 2021 to theSNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 through the robot PF-IF unit1002.

The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 determines contents to becontributed by the virtual robot character in the SNS group based on thesensing data and the device data notified from the robot PF cloudcontrol unit 2011 (Step S16). In other words, in Step S16, the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 determines contents to be contributed bythe virtual robot character to the SNS. Specific contents of thedetermination method in Step S16 will be described separately.

The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 notifies the SNS servercontrol unit 3011 of the contribution contents determined as contents tobe contributed by the virtual robot character (Step S17). In otherwords, in Step S17, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001notifies the SNS of the contribution contents. Specifically, theSNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 transmits the contributioncontents determined in Step S16 to the SNS server control unit 3011through the SNS-IF unit 1003. The SNS server control unit 3011 updatesthe contribution contents data in the SNS system 300 and notifies theupdate contents of contribution contents data to the SNS application3021 as required.

By the foregoing processing, the contribution contents determined by theSNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 are contributed to SNS by thevirtual robot character and shared. The contribution contents arecontents based on sensing data and device data including contents ofconversation with the robot user and sensing information such asmovement of the robot user. Then, another SNS user is allowed to confirmthe contribution contents as contents contributed by the virtual robotcharacter in the SNS group.

Next, update of the speech contents in Step S11 will be specificallydescribed. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of updatingspeech contents of the communication robot.

Speech of the communication robot includes two types of speeches, arobot autonomous speech and an SNS contribution speech. The robotautonomous speech is a speech which is autonomously made by thecommunication robot itself and is addressed to a robot user irrespectiveof the contents contributed in the SNS group. The robot autonomousspeech is a speech, for example, “Good morning. I'm fine today as well.Let's go.” or “Hello, how are you today?” The SNS contribution speech isa speech based on the contents contributed by a certain user in the SNSgroup. When a certain user of the SNS group makes a contribution, theSNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 may change the speech of thecommunication robot from a robot autonomous speech to an SNScontribution speech. An SNS contribution speech acquired when the speech“Hello, it's cold again today, isn't it?” was contributed by a “user A”as one of the users will be a speech, for example, “Comment from theuser A. Hello, ‘it's cold again today, isn't it?” The communicationrobot only needs to inform a robot user of a speech changed by theSNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001.

In the following, description will be made of a procedure of updatingcontents of each of a robot autonomous speech and an SNS contributionspeech with reference to FIG. 3.

The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 checks whether update ofdata representing the contents of speech that the robot autonomouslymakes (i.e. robot autonomous speech data) is required or not (Step S21).When the update is required (YES in Step S21), the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 updates the robot autonomous speech data(Step S22). When the update is not required (NO in Step S21), robotautonomous speech data is not updated in Step S22 and the operationtransfers to Step S23.

The robot autonomous speech data is data held in advance by theSNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001. The robot autonomous speechdata may be periodically updated. The robot autonomous speech data isupdated according to an update instruction by, for example, a robotmanager or a robot service provider. In addition, the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 may be set so as to autonomously updaterobot autonomous speech data based on information, such as weather,temperature or news, on the Internet or the like. In other words, forexample, when periodical update timing comes, upon reception of anupdate instruction, or when information on the Internet or the like isupdated, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 may determinethat update of the contents of a speech that the robot autonomouslymakes is required.

The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 checks whether acontribution to the SNS group whose speech is not yet made by the robotis updated or not (Step S23). In the following, contents contributed tothe SNS group are referred to as “SNS contribution contents”. Whenupdated (YES in Step S23), based on the updated SNS contributioncontents, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 generates SNScontribution speech data, which is data representing the contents of anSNS contribution speech (Step S24). When not updated (NO in Step S23),contribution speech data is not generated in Step S24, and the operationillustrated in FIG. 3 transfers to Step S26.

In Step S24, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 generates SNScontribution speech data according to a template held in advance.Specifically, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 holds inadvance speech patterns depending on contributors, contributed textcontents, contributed status icons (icons each representing a userstate), and contributed stamps. The SNS-robot collaboration control unit1001 uses, as a template, a management table by which speech data can begenerated based on the speech patterns. For example, when the user Acontributes a text “Hello, it's cold again today, isn't it?”, theSNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 generates speech data“Comments from user A. Hello, it's cold again today, isn't it?” When oneof the users, a user B contributes a stamp meaning “OK”, the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 generates speech data “OK, OK. The userB has put an OK stamp”.

Using the generated SNS contribution speech data, the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 updates the SNS contribution speech datawhich the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 holds (Step S25).The SNS contribution speech data held by the SNS-robot collaborationcontrol unit 1001 may include a plurality of SNS contribution contentswhose speech is yet to be made by the robot. The SNS contribution speechdata held by the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 also includesdata from which a speech has been made by the robot, and may be datawhich is generated in Step S24 and accumulated and from which a speechhas been already made.

The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 notifies the robot PFdevice control unit 2021 of the robot autonomous speech data and the SNScontribution speech data (i.e. speech contents) (Step S26).Specifically, through the robot PF-IF unit 1002, the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 notifies the robot PF cloud control unit2011 of the robot autonomous speech data from which the communicationrobot makes a speech and the SNS contribution speech data. Then, therobot PF cloud control unit 2011 notifies the robot PF device controlunit 2021 of the robot autonomous speech data and the SNS contributionspeech data notified by the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001.When neither the robot autonomous speech data nor the SNS contributionspeech data is updated, no notification is made in Step S26.

Although, in the present exemplary embodiment, the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 executes update of the robot autonomousspeech data and update of the SNS contribution speech data insuccession, they are not necessarily executed in succession. Forexample, when update of the robot autonomous speech contents is requiredin Step S21, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 may updatedata of the robot autonomous speech only (Step S22). Then, the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 may notify the robot PF device controlunit 2021 of the data of the robot autonomous speech only (Step S26). Inaddition, when the SNS contribution speech contents need updating inStep S23, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 may update thedata of the SNS contribution speech only (Step S25). Then, the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 may notify the robot PF device controlunit 2021 of the data of the SNS contribution speech only (Step S26).

Next, description will be made of a procedure of determiningcommunication robot speech contents and motion contents by the robot PFdevice control unit 2021 at the time of processing of Step S13 depictedin FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of determiningspeech contents and motion contents of the communication robot.

The robot PF device control unit 2021 determines whether a speech whosecontents are to be determined is a first speech after a preset time(Step S31). The preset time is, for example, 6 o'clock, 12 o'clock, 18o'clock, etc. The preset time can be variously set by a robot user, arobot manager, a robot service provider, or the like.

When the speech is the first speech after the preset time (YES in StepS31), the robot PF device control unit 2021 determines robot autonomousspeech contents for the first speech based on the robot autonomousspeech data (Step S32). The robot autonomous speech contents for thefirst speech are contents which are suited for the first speech afterthe preset time and include greetings or those intended for confirming acondition of the robot user. The speech is, for example, “Hello, how isyour physical condition today? Are you OK?”

When the speech is not the first speech after the preset time (NO inStep S31), the robot PF device control unit 2021 checks whether SNScontribution speech data exists or not (Step S33). When the SNScontribution speech data exists (YES in Step S33), the robot PF devicecontrol unit 2021 determines speech contents of the robot based on theSNS contribution speech data (Step S34). The SNS contribution speechdata is data generated by the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001according to rules and/or patterns at the time of generating the SNScontribution speech data in Step S24 in FIG. 3.

When SNS contribution speech data does not exist (NO in Step S33), therobot PF device control unit 2021 determines robot speech contents basedon the robot autonomous speech data (Step S35). The robot PF devicecontrol unit 2021 determines, as the robot autonomous speech contents inStep S35, a speech appropriate as a speech which is not the first oneafter the preset time and suited in a case of no SNS contribution speechdata. The speech is such a speech as speaking to a robot user orcommunicating something by the robot, and may be, for example, “It isgetting cold. Be careful not to catch a cold.”

After processing in Step S32, Step S34 or Step S35, the robot PF devicecontrol unit 2021 determines motion matching with the speech contents(Step S36). Specifically, the robot PF device control unit 2021 onlyneeds to select motion matching with the speech contents from amongmotion contents held in advance, for example, sound effects, bodymovement of the robot, and lighting or blinking of an LED.

In particular, when the robot speech contents are an SNS contributionspeech determined in Step S34, the robot PF device control unit 2021selects a motion matched to the contents of status icons or stamps, orselects a motion so as to be matched to a text sentence.

Alternatively, in Step S36, the robot PF cloud control unit 2011 or theSNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001, in place of the robot PFdevice control unit 2021, may determine motion contents based on speechcontents. Then, the robot PF cloud control unit 2011 or the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 may notify the robot PF device controlunit 2021 of the determined contents. When the SNS-robot collaborationcontrol unit 1001 determines motion contents, the motion contents may bedetermined together with speech contents based, for example, on SNScontribution contents, and the like.

Next, description will be made of a procedure of determining, in StepS16 in FIG. 2 by the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001, contentsto be contributed by the virtual robot character in an SNS group basedon the sensing data and the device data. FIG. 5 is a flowchartillustrating a procedure of determining contents to be contributed bythe virtual robot character in the SNS group.

The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 generates SNS contributioncontents based on the robot speech contents determined in Step S32, StepS34 or Step S35 depicted in FIG. 4. In the following, a procedure ofgenerating SNS contribution contents based on speech contents will bespecifically described.

The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 generates a text sentenceto be contributed by referring to robot speech contents irrespective ofwhether the robot speech contents are determined by processing in StepS32, Step S34, or Step S35 (Step S41).

When speech contents are determined in Step S32, the speech contents arespeeches including greetings and those intended for confirming a robotuser's condition. Therefore, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit1001 generates a status contribution indicative of a state of a robotuser as SNS contribution contents by the virtual robot character in SNSin Step S41.

When speech contents are determined in Step S34, the speech contents area contribution by another SNS user. Therefore, the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 takes a response (e.g. speech) of arobot user to the SNS contribution contents by another SNS user as anSNS contribution by a virtual robot character in Step S41. The SNScontribution generated in this case is a comment contribution by thevirtual robot character for a status contribution which is made byanother SNS user and for which the robot made a speech. The SNScontribution generated in this case is a comment contribution by thevirtual robot character in response to a comment contribution which wasmade by another SNS user and for which the robot made a speech.

When speech contents are determined in Step S35, the speech contents arenot such a speech as for confirming a state of the robot user but aspeech for speaking to a robot user, or communicating something by therobot. Therefore, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001generates a comment contribution by the virtual robot character inresponse to the status contribution (indicative of a robot user's state)as SNS contribution contents in Step S41.

The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 updates the SNScontribution contents based on a recognition result of user's voiceobtained by the voice recognition unit 2023 (Step S42). The SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 selects an icon to be contributedaccording to, for example, the recognition result of the user's voice.The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 also updates an SNScontribution text sentence in a manner of adding the voice recognitionresult to the contribution text sentence generated in Step S41 withreference to the text contents subjected to voice recognition.

When the speech contents are determined in Step S32, the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 selects an icon indicative of a user'sstate as a status icon of a status contribution by the virtual robotcharacter. Even when no voice recognition succeeded or when no normalvoice recognition succeeded, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit1001 may select a status icon indicative of a condition of the voicerecognition or update the voice recognition condition as a contributiontext sentence.

When the speech contents are determined in Step S34 or Step S35, theSNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 selects a stamp to becontributed in addition to a comment contribution by the virtual robotcharacter. Even when no voice recognition succeeded or when no normalvoice recognition succeeded, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit1001 may select a stamp indicative of a condition of the voicerecognition or update a contribution text sentence as indicative of thecondition of the voice recognition.

Next, based on other sensing data or device data, the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 updates the contribution text sentencein a manner of adding the voice recognition result to the contributiontext sentence generated in Step S42 (Step S43). Specifically, theSNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 makes a contribution whichreports a user's condition based on the sensing data or the device data.When utilizing the sensing data of person sensing, the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 may just execute update when, forexample, a person is sensed as a result of normal detection of his orher face. The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 may also executeupdate when a person is sensed only with ultrasonic waves. The SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 may also execute update when atemperature information change or an abnormal temperature of a robotuser's body is sensed. For example, the SNS-robot collaboration controlunit 1001 extracts a characteristic change from any kind of sensing dataand updates a contribution text sentence based on the extracted change.The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 may utilize a distance apositional relationship between a robot and a robot user.

When sensing a room temperature being T1 degrees centigrade, forexample, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 makes such acontribution as “Room temperature is T1 degrees centigrade. It is alittle cold, isn't it?” When sensing a body temperature of a user beingT2 degrees centigrade, for example, the SNS-robot collaboration controlunit 1001 makes such a contribution as “Body temperature is T2 degreescentigrade.” For example, when sensing that a distance between the userand the communication robot is D cm (centimeter) and detecting a face ina diagonally 60 degrees left forward direction from the robot, theSNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 makes such a contribution as“Distance to the user is D cm. In a diagonally forward ten o'clockdirection, the face is found.” When person sensing of Step S12 does notsucceed for a preset time period, the SNS-robot collaboration controlunit 1001 may make such a contribution as “No one seems to be there.What happens?” In this case, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit1001 may make such a contribution as “The room temperature is T1 degreescentigrade. It is too cold. There seems to be no heating.”

Next, effects of the collaboration system of the present exemplaryembodiment will be described. The collaboration system of the presentexemplary embodiment enables a person not using a PC or a smart phone tojoin in an SNS community (i.e. SNS group) and communicate with anotherSNS user with ease just by conversation with a robot.

In the collaboration system of the present exemplary embodiment, thecommunication robot, as a virtual robot character, contributes contentsof conversation with a robot user or sensing information such asmovement of the robot user to SNS so that they can be shared. Thisenables another user (e.g. a family member or a friend) even at adistant place who takes part in the same community to check words andactions of the robot user. In the collaboration system of the presentexemplary embodiment, a virtual robot character of the same kind as thatof a real-world robot takes part in an SNS community. Therefore, thecollaboration system of the present exemplary embodiment enablesreal-world living space of a robot user to be reported to another userof the SNS community in a real and easy-to-understand manner.

When sharing words and actions of a robot user on SNS, the collaborationsystem of the present exemplary embodiment discriminates contents thatthe user wants to share with another user relatively intensively andcontents that the user wants to share relatively weakly and usesdifferent UIs (i.e. ways of showing) on SNS. The contents to be sharedrelatively intensively with another user are, for example, statuscontributions and contents to be shared relatively weakly are, forexample, comment contributions. This allows the collaboration system ofthe present exemplary embodiment to report words and actions of a robotuser to another user in an easy-to-understand manner according toconditions. In addition, the collaboration system of the presentexemplary embodiment is capable of accumulating histories of words andactions of a robot user only through conversation with a robot by therobot user.

(First Implementation Example)

A first implementation example of the collaboration system of thepresent exemplary embodiment will be described. In the presentimplementation example, the communication robot identifies a pluralityof persons by utilizing a face authentication technology. By specifyingan SNS group to which a contribution is to be made based on a result ofthe face authentication or the like, the collaboration system achievesconversation suitable for an identified person, a contribution in SNSand sharing of the contribution. In addition, the collaboration systemof the present implementation example may specify not only an SNS groupbut also the SNS system 300 based on a result of face authentication orthe like.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of identifying an SNScontribution destination using face authentication. The person sensingunit 2022 of the robot PF device 202 senses a person (Step S51).Specifically, the person sensing unit 2022 senses a presence, aposition, movement, and an expression change of a person, a temperaturechange, and the like. The person sensing unit 2022 notifies the robot PFdevice control unit 2021 of the sensing data acquired by the sensing.The robot PF device control unit 2021 determines whether a persondifferent from a person sensed immediately before is sensed or not. Therobot PF device control unit 2021 may, for example, detect a face (e.g.a region including the face) in a photographed image and compare thedetected face and the face detected immediately before, therebydetermining whether a person different from a person sensed immediatelybefore is sensed or not. The robot PF device control unit 2021 may justmake this determination just by such simple identification of a person.Since face authentication for final identification of a person isexecuted by the robot PF cloud 201, person identification at the robotPF device 202 is not necessarily be executed strictly.

The robot PF device control unit 2021 transmits face image data to therobot PF cloud control unit 2011 when the person sensed in Step S51 isdifferent from the person sensed immediately before (Step S52).

The reason why the robot PF device 202 executes simple identification ofa person in Step S51 is to transmit face image data to the robot PFcloud control unit 2011 with an appropriate frequency to specify an SNScontribution destination in Step S52. In other words, it is intended tosuppress an increase in a load on a communication network caused by anincrease in a transmission frequency and to suppress a decrease in asystem response of the collaboration system.

The robot PF cloud control unit 2011 executes face authentication basedon the face image data received from the robot PF device control unit2021 (Step S53). The robot PF cloud control unit 2011 holds, as faceauthentication management data, the face image data and identificationinformation of a robot user (i.e. robot user ID (Identification)) sothat they are correlated with each other. The robot PF cloud controlunit 2011 specifies a robot user ID by matching the face authenticationmanagement data registered in advance with the received face image datain the face authentication. Alternatively, the SNS-robot collaborationcontrol unit 1001 may hold the face authentication management data andspecify a robot user ID. The robot PF cloud control unit 2011 notifiesthe SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 of a robot user ID as aresult of the face authentication. Since the face authentication iscommonly used, specific description of the procedure thereof will beomitted.

The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 holds SNS user managementdata in which identification information of a robot user (e.g. theabove-described robot user ID) and an SNS group as a contributiondestination are correlated with each other. As an SNS group suited as acontribution destination for a robot user, the SNS-robot collaborationcontrol unit 1001 specifies an SNS group correlated with the robot userID acquired by face authentication in the SNS user management data (StepS54). Then, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 makes acontribution to the specified SNS group suited for the robot user. TheSNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 also generates a speech from acontribution by another SNS user of the SNS group, and notifies therobot PF device control unit 2021 of the generated speech contents. Whentwo or more of SNS systems 300 exist, in Step S54, the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 may specify not only an SNS group towhich a contribution is to be made but also the SNS system 300 to whichthe contribution is to be made. In this case, the SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 may hold data in which the SNS group andthe SNS system 300 are correlated with each other. The SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 may specify an SNS system 300 correlatedwith the specified SNS group as a contribution destination SNS system300.

The collaboration system according to the present implementation exampleenables two or more users to share contributions or information in theirrespective SNS groups to which the users belong and in the SNS systems300 only through conversation with the communication robot withoutdesignating an SNS group or the like. The reason is that use of faceauthentication by an associated system enables an SNS contributiondestination suited for a robot user to be specified.

(Second Implementation Example)

As second implementation example of the collaboration system accordingto the present exemplary embodiment, description will be made of acollaboration system by which a plurality of robots used by a robot userare registered with (i.e. join in) an SNS group without the robot userexecuting operations of registration of the robots with the SNS group.FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of specifying acontribution destination when there is a plurality of communicationrobots.

The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 registers a certain robotA as a virtual robot character with an SNS group (Step S61). Assume, forexample, that the robot A at a certain individual home is registered asa virtual robot character with a certain SNS group. The SNS-robotcollaboration control unit 1001 holds the user management data in whichidentification information of a robot user (robot user ID) and an SNSgroup to which a contribution is to be made are correlated with eachother. The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 specifies thecertain SNS group on the basis of robot user ID acquired by faceauthentication and the SNS user management data. Then, conversationbetween the robot A and the user is shared in the certain SNS groupcorrelated with the robot user ID of the robot A.

Next, description will be made of a case where a user of the robot A(e.g. who owning the robot A) holds a conversation with, for example,another robot B, which is other than the robot A which the user A ownspersonally, in other home, in other shop or in town. The person sensingunit 2022 of the robot PF device 202 of the robot B senses a person(Step S62). The person sensing unit 2022 notifies the robot PF devicecontrol unit 2021 of the face image data acquired through personsensing.

The robot PF device control unit 2021 of the robot B transmits the faceimage data of the person sensed in Step S62 to the robot PF cloudcontrol unit 2011 (Step S63).

Using the face image data received from the robot PF device control unit2021, the robot PF cloud control unit 2011 executes face authentication(Step S64). Then, the robot PF cloud control unit 2011 notifies theSNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 of the robot user ID as aresult of the face authentication.

The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 specifies an SNS groupcorrelated with the robot user ID on the basis of the robot user IDacquired by the face authentication and the user management data (StepS65). In other words, the SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001specifies an SNS group in which the robot A that the user personallyowns is registered.

The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001 registers the robot B as avirtual robot character with the SNS group specified in Step S65 (StepS66).

The collaboration system of the present implementation example enables aplurality of communication robots to be registered with (i.e. to bejoined in) an SNS group without executing a particular registrationprocedure when a user holds a conversation with the plurality ofcommunication robots.

The collaboration system of the present implementation example can becombined with image and video contributions or a contribution ofposition information, which are possible in common SNS. By such acombination, it is possible to achieve an automatic check-in systemwhich allows a person who holds conversation with a plurality ofcommunication robots to automatically check in an SNS group just byholding the conversation. Execution of the automatic check-in enables auser to grasp and share, in the SNS group, position information, andwords and actions (i.e. what and where he or she is doing now) of aperson who holds the conversation with the robot.

There is also a possibility that a communication robot or a sensordevice is registered as a plurality of virtual robot characters with SNSand joins in the SNS, so that making a speech by the plurality ofvirtual robot characters might confuse a robot user. On that account, arobot user may determine a main virtual robot character for each SNSgroup in advance. Then, the main virtual robot character may make aspeech of conversation between the virtual robot characters on behalf ofthem. The main virtual robot character may contribute informationacquired from the plurality of registered robots to SNS.

Next, the outline of the collaboration system according to the presentinvention will be given. FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating astructure of a main part of the collaboration system according to thepresent invention. The collaboration system according to the presentinvention includes a device 20 and a collaboration apparatus 10 as maincomponents. The device 20 recognizes a user, and executes at least oneof acquisition of sensing data related to the user and an action basedon contents contributed to SNS by another user. The collaborationapparatus 10 executes at least one of processing of transmittingcontributed contents based on the sensing data to an SNS system whichprovides the SNS and processing of updating action of the device 20based on contents contributed by another user and transmitting theupdated action to the device 20.

The SNS-robot collaboration apparatus 100 of the present exemplaryembodiment can be achieved by a computer and a program which controlsthe computer, dedicated hardware, or a combination of a computer and aprogram which controls the computer and dedicated hardware.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating one example of a hardware structure ofa computer 10000 by which an SNS-robot collaboration apparatus 100 canbe achieved. Referring to FIG. 9, the computer 10000 includes aprocessor 10001, a memory 10002, a storage device 10003 and an I/O(Input/Output) interface 10004. The computer 10000 is capable ofaccessing a recording medium 10005. The memory 10002 and the storagedevice 10003 are storage devices such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) ora hard disk. The recording medium 10005 is a storage device such as aRAM or a hard disk, a ROM (Read Only Memory), or a portable recordingmedium. The storage device 10003 may be a storage medium 10005. Theprocessor 10001 is capable of reading and writing data or program fromor to the memory 10002 and the storage device 10003. The processor 10001is capable of accessing, for example, the robot PF 200 and the SNSsystem 300 through the I/O interface 10004. The processor 10001 iscapable of accessing the storage medium 10005. A program which causesthe computer 10000 to operate as the SNS-robot collaboration apparatus100 is stored in the storage medium 10005.

The processor 10001 loads the program which is stored in the storagemedium 10005 and causes the computer 10000 to operate as the SNS-robotcollaboration apparatus 100 into the memory 10002. Then, as a result ofthe execution of the program loaded into the memory 10002 by theprocessor 10001, the computer 10000 operates as the SNS-robotcollaboration apparatus 100.

The SNS-robot collaboration control unit 1001, the robot PF-IF unit 1002and the SNS-IF unit 1003 can be achieved, for example, by a dedicatedprogram which is read into the memory 10002 from the recording medium10005 storing a program and by which functions of the respective unitscan be achieved, and by the processor 10001 which executes the program.In addition, a part or all of the SNS-robot collaboration control unit1001, the robot PF-IF unit 1002 and the SNS-IF unit 1003 can be achievedby dedicated circuits which realize these functions.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to theexemplary embodiments in the foregoing, the present invention is notlimited to the above-described exemplary embodiments. Variousmodifications those skilled in the art can appreciate may be made inconfiguration and details of the present invention without departingfrom the scope of the present invention.

In each of the above-described exemplary embodiments, a collaborationsystem set forth in the following (1) to (6) is also disclosed.

(1) A collaboration system including a device (e.g. the robot PF device202) and a collaboration apparatus (e.g. the SNS-robot collaborationapparatus 100). The device recognizes a user, and executes at least oneof acquisition of sensing data related to the user and an action (e.g.speech and motion) based on contents contributed to SNS by another user.The collaboration apparatus executes at least one of processing oftransmitting contributed contents based on the sensing data to an SNSsystem (e.g. SNS system 300) and processing of updating action of thedevice based on contents contributed by another user and transmittingthe updated action to the device. The SNS system provides SNS.

(2) The collaboration system may be configured such that the device is acommunication robot capable of communicating with a user. Thusconfigured collaboration system enables a person not using a PC or asmart phone to take part in an SNS community (i.e. SNS group) andcommunicate with another SNS user with ease just by conversation with arobot.

(3) The collaboration system may be configured as set forth below. Thecollaboration apparatus updates at least one of speech contents andmotion of a device based on contents contributed by another user in SNS.The device executes at least one of a speech based on the updated speechcontents and a motion based on the updated motion.

(4) The collaboration system may be configured such that the deviceacquires user's voice as sensing data, and that the collaborationapparatus determines contents to be transmitted to the SNS system basedon a recognition result of the voice.

(5) The collaboration system may be configured such that the deviceacquires sensing data related to a condition of the user, and that thecollaboration apparatus transmits a contribution to the SNS system forreporting a user's condition based on the sensing data.

(6) The collaboration system can be configured such that the deviceacquires a face image of a user, and that the collaboration apparatusidentifies a contribution destination based on identificationinformation of a user specified based on an authentication result of theface image and user management data held in advance. According to such acollaboration system, it is possible for two or more users to share,just by holding conversation with a communication robot, contributionsor information in their respective SNS groups to which the usersbelongs.

(7) The collaboration system may be configured as set forth below. Thecollaboration apparatus holds user management data in whichidentification information of a user using a first device is associatedwith an SNS group, and when a second device recognizes the user,registers the second device for an SNS group correlated with the user.According to such collaboration system, it is possible for the user toregister autonomously register with the SNS group just by conversationof a user with the plurality of communication robots.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to theexemplary embodiments in the foregoing, the present invention is notlimited to the above-described exemplary embodiments. Variousmodifications those skilled in the art can appreciate may be made inconfiguration and details of the present invention without departingfrom the scope of the present invention.

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority fromJapanese Patent Application No. 2014-078683, filed on Apr. 7, 2014, thedisclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   10 Collaboration apparatus-   20 Device-   100 SNS-robot collaboration apparatus-   200 Robot PF-   201 Robot PF cloud-   202 Robot PF device-   300 SNS system-   301 SNS server-   302 Terminal device-   1001 SNS-robot collaboration control unit-   2011 Robot PF cloud control unit-   2021 Robot PF device control unit-   2022 Person sensing unit-   2023 Voice recognition unit-   2024 Voice synthesis speech unit-   2025 Motion reproduction unit-   3011 SNS server control unit-   3021 SNS application-   10000 Computer-   10001 Processor-   10002 Memory-   10003 Storage device-   10004 I/O Interface-   10005 Storage medium

1. A collaboration system comprising: a first device which recognizes auser and acquires sensing data related to the user; a collaborationapparatus communicably connected with the first device, thecollaboration apparatus configured to execute transmission of a contentbased on the sensing data, as speech by a first virtual characterregistered as a member of a group in a Social Networking Service (SNS)provided by a SNS system, to the SNS system, the first virtual characterrepresenting the first device; and a second device communicablyconnected with the collaboration apparatus, wherein the collaborationapparatus is configured to: hold user management data in whichidentification information of the user of the first device is associatedwith the group; and register, when the second device recognizes theuser, a second virtual character representing the second device with thegroup associated with the identification information of the user.
 2. Thecollaboration system according to claim 1, wherein the second devicecomprises a camera, the second device is configured to: hold faceauthentication management data in which of a registered face of the useris associated with the identification information of the user; identifythe identification information of the user by collating a face capturedby the camera with the registered face, and the collaboration apparatusis configured to identify the group associated with the identifiedidentification information as the group which the second virtualcharacter is to be registered with.
 3. The collaboration systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the second device is configured to acquiresecond sensing data by sensing the user, and the collaboration device isfurther configured to contribute text data based on the second sensingdata, as speech by the second virtual character to the group.
 4. Thecollaboration system according to claim 1, wherein the second device isplaced in a public place.
 5. A collaboration method performed by acollaboration apparatus communicably connected with a first device and asecond device, the first device being configured to recognize a user andacquires sensing data related to the user, the collaboration methodcomprising: executing transmission of a content based on the sensingdata, as speech by a first virtual character registered as a member of agroup in a Social Networking Service (SNS) provided by a SNS system, tothe SNS system, the first virtual character representing the firstdevice; holding user management data in which identification informationof the user of the first device is associated with the group; andregistering, when the second device recognizes the user, a secondvirtual character representing the second device with the groupassociated with the identification information of the user.
 6. Thecollaboration method according to claim 5, wherein the second devicecomprises a camera, the second device is configured to: hold faceauthentication management data in which of a registered face of the useris associated with the identification information of the user; identifythe identification information of the user by collating a face capturedby the camera with the registered face, and the collaboration methodcomprises identifying the group associated with the identifiedidentification information as the group which the second virtualcharacter is to be registered with.
 7. The collaboration methodaccording to claim 5, wherein the second device is configured to acquiresecond sensing data by sensing the user, and the collaboration methodfurther comprises contributing text data based on the second sensingdata, as speech by the second virtual character to the group.
 8. Thecollaboration method according to claim 5, wherein the second device isplaced in a public place.
 9. A non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium storing a program that causes a computer to perform acollaboration method, the computer being communicably connected with afirst device and a second device, the first device being configured torecognize a user and acquires sensing data related to the user, thecollaboration method comprising: executing transmission of a contentbased on the sensing data, as speech by a first virtual characterregistered as a member of a group in a Social Networking Service (SNS)provided by a SNS system, to the SNS system, the first virtual characterrepresenting the first device; holding user management data in whichidentification information of the user of the first device is associatedwith the group; and registering, when the second device recognizes theuser, a second virtual character representing the second device with thegroup associated with the identification information of the user. 10.The storage medium according to claim 9, wherein the second devicecomprises a camera, the second device is configured to: hold faceauthentication management data in which of a registered face of the useris associated with the identification information of the user; identifythe identification information of the user by collating a face capturedby the camera with the registered face, and the collaboration methodcomprises identifying the group associated with the identifiedidentification information as the group which the second virtualcharacter is to be registered with.
 11. The storage medium according toclaim 9, wherein the second device is configured to acquire secondsensing data by sensing the user, and the collaboration method furthercomprises contributing text data based on the second sensing data, asspeech by the second virtual character to the group.
 12. The storagemedium according to claim 9, wherein the second device is placed in apublic place.